MaryAnn Stauffer joined Star Mountain Capital, a specialized investment manager with approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management, as a managing director. She will further the firm’s client services and distribution capabilities particularly within the high-net-worth channel in addition to institutional coverage. This market segment continues to have demand for private loans, especially Star Mountain’s differentiated, private-equity style approach of helping finance acquisitions of often aging private business owners who want to sell for personal reasons while regional banks continue to have limited abilities to service these needs.

“We are delighted to welcome MaryAnn to the Star Mountain family as we continue to focus on bringing distinctive value to investors and business owners in an aligned manner through our purpose-built platform focused on the lower middle-market,” Brett Hickey, founder and CEO of Star Mountain Capital, said. “Our mission is to provide as many investors as possible with high quality access to this segment of the private markets including through customized investment structures to help accomplish their goals which generally include capital protection, portfolio diversification, current yield and overall returns.”

Stauffer will join the firm’s new Philadelphia office, which is Star Mountain’s 11th office in the United States.

“I am thrilled to join an incredibly talented team of professionals that are bringing tangible value to registered investment advisors, institutions and investors at large, as well as lower middle-market business owners,” Stauffer said. “Star Mountain Capital has an aligned purpose and mission of investing with and helping grow leading private businesses in North America. This is an extremely compelling value proposition for my career, personal capital and trusted relationships, who are constantly looking for reliable and differentiated investments to complement their portfolio.”

Prior to joining Star Mountain, Stauffer spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she worked with registered investment advisors, family offices and financial advisory firms, consulting with their investment committees on the markets, portfolio construction and various investment strategies across a broad array of asset classes. In this capacity, she led teams through extensive investment due diligence and research processes, leveraging her experience and investment acumen across capital markets, including equities, debt and alternatives.

Her alternative investment experience includes private credit / private lending in drawn down funds as well as BDC structures, private equity and secondary fund investment strategies. As part of her leadership, she was an active member of the Goldman Sachs Women’s Network, which brought together female colleagues while assisting in bringing up the next generation of female executives within the firm.

Before Goldman Sachs, Stauffer was a vice president at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and worked for Merrill Lynch earlier in her career.